EL1 Chesapeake Baysox

Florimon Delivers Grand Finish

Published on May 23, 2010 under Eastern League (EL1)
Chesapeake Baysox News Release


BOWIE, Md. - The Bowie Baysox hit three home runs to defeat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 7-2 as foreboding skies turned into a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Prince George's Stadium. The win clinched the series for the Baysox after Bowie and New Hampshire split the first two games of the home stand. The Baysox have won their last two series after hitting a stretch in May where they won just two out of 11 games from May 6-16.

Right-handed starting pitcher Chorye Spoone turned in his third solid performance in a row but did not record a decision. The Pasadena, Md. native, who has been battling back from his September 2008 shoulder surgery, surrendered two runs on four hits through 6.0 innings. His control of the strike zone continued to improve, as he walked two batters and generated many ground balls for outs.

"It's starting to come back a lot, my velocity is getting back each time," Spoone said. "Today was the exact opposite as last time; my breaking ball was not there today. I was able to get away because I had really good sink on my sinker today, so I was getting a lot of ground balls. It's been feeling good lately. The last three starts, my mechanics are getting more sound and even when I do walk guys, I'm more around the zone, it's not like I'm all over the place walking guys where I can't control it."

The Baysox and Fisher Cats battled back and forth in a close game before shortstop Pedro Florimon unleashed a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning to put the game out of reach. It was the Dominican shortstop's first home run of the season, and his first-ever grand slam.

Catcher Steve Lerud put the Baysox ahead 1-0 in the second inning when he uncorked the first long ball of the afternoon, a two-out solo shot to right field. It was Lerud's first home run of the season, and the 43rd of his career.

New Hampshire answered back with a moonshot of their own, as left fielder Eric Thames launched Spoone's first pitch of the fourth inning over the high wall behind right field to level the score at 1-1.

"[The home run] was shocking to me," Spoone said. "I was just boring them away with sinkers to the lefties and in on the righties and getting ground balls, and they were cheating a little bit, you could see they were starting to pull the ball. I was still going to get back to that pitch, but I decided that we were going to start this guy off with a first-pitch change-up; the first one I threw all game. I was throwing 90-92 and I threw this at 82, that's a 10 miles per hour difference for the first one of the entire game, and it was below the knees.

"I mean, to hit that ball over the fence when I hadn't thrown one all game, that blew my mind," he said. "I couldn't even get mad, because I'm looking at the catcher like, ‘What just happened?' It wasn't like it was one where I threw 90 and then I held on to the change-up too long and threw 88, it was a ten mile per hour difference and he hit a home run. The only thing I can think of is, he was just cheating on a fastball and swung so fast and just happened to catch the barrel on it. Because, there's no way he could be looking for that pitch. There's no way."

The Fisher Cats took a one-run lead in the top of the fifth inning. Shortstop Luis Sanchez reached first on a fielder's choice ground ball and moved to second courtesy of outfielder Darin Mastroianni's single to center. Spoone got the second out on a strikeout before Thames grounded a single into right field to plate Sanchez.

"That last run hurt," Spoone said. "The only pitch I needed all day, I thought that was [strike three] but the umpire didn't give it to me and then the guy got a base hit. That was the only good breaking ball I threw today, and the guy hits it for a base hit. Oh well, that's baseball."

First baseman Brandon Waring tied it at 2-2 with another solo home run with two outs in bottom of the sixth. It was Waring's sixth homer of the year, the first he had hit in nearly a month, as the hard-hitting infielder has slumped for much of May.

"For sure it could get me going," Waring said. "I thought I had a couple good at-bats. The pitch I hit was definitely a mistake with two strikes. If you ask the other pitcher, he'd probably tell you it was a mistake. It was a change-up up in the zone, but I took a good swing and it carried out of the park."

In a game dominated by home runs, the Baysox took the lead in the bottom of the seventh thanks to some well executed small-ball. Left fielder Matt Tucker started the inning with a single to center field and advanced to second by Florimon's sacrifice bunt. Tucker tried to score from second on center fielder Matt Angle's line drive single to center field, but was caught at the plate by an excellent throw from Mastroianni as Angle moved to second on the throw.

The Baysox were successful in their second attempt to score the runner from second as second baseman Carlos Rojas poked a single into right field and the speedy Angle raced home for the go-ahead run.

New Hampshire reliever Vince Bongiovanni loaded the bases with no outs before getting the hook in the bottom of the ninth. He walked designated hitter Joel Guzman and Waring before right fielder Jonathan Tucker laid down a perfectly executed bunt down the third base line that left all three runners safe. Tim Collins came in to bail out the Fisher Cats and nearly succeeded as he struck out Lerud and Matt Tucker to bring up Florimon, who had previously notched just three extra-base hits all year.

Florimon took two pitches for balls and made great contact with the third pitch, as the ball dropped just past the left field wall to send the crowd of 2,840 into a frenzy as Bowie went up 7-2.

"I'm happy I finally got the first [home run] out of the way and I'm looking forward to many more hopefully in the future," Florimon said through an interpreter. "I was surprised it got out, but I'm happy. I saw he was throwing fastballs, so I was ready for the fastball, but he threw a breaking ball and I took it. Then, he threw the fastball and I hit it."

The Baysox are back to just one game under .500 at 21-22 and are tied with the Harrisburg Senators in fourth place, six games behind the first-place Altoona Curve. Bowie heads to Harrisburg on Monday for a four-game set and then will travel to Richmond for four more games with the Flying Squirrels.

They return to Bowie on Tuesday, June 1, for a six-game home stand against the Binghamton mets and Erie SeaWolves. That weekend's games feature two of the most highly anticipated events of the year at Prince George's Stadium. Friday, June 4, is Legends of Wrestling Night, where fans can meet and get autographs from three-time WWF champion and New York Times bestselling author Mick Foley. That Saturday is Louie's Big Birthday Bash, as the Baysox loveable green mascot will celebrate his birthday in style with several of his mascot friends and a pre-game concert for kids by Milkshake. Louie's Kids Club members and their parents can buy tickets for $12 that include admission to the pre-game concert, a lower reserved ticket in Louie's Birthday Section, a wristband for free rides and games in Louie's Kids Park, birthday cake, and a goody bag. To order tickets, fans can contact Baysox Community Programs Manager Dana DeFilippo at (301) 464-4871 before 5 p.m. Thursday, June 3.

Think Outside The Box with the Baysox in 2010. The Baysox 18th season as the class Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles is underway. Catch all the action in Natural Definition! Baysox full-season and partial-season ticket packages are available now at www.baysox.com or by calling the group sales department at (301) 464-4880.

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Eastern League Stories from May 23, 2010


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